Treatment of IgA nephropathy in children: a land without KDIGO guidance.

Abstract

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) in children is no longer considered a rare and benign disease but a nephritis with different presentations and various outcomes. The decision to initiate a treatment and the therapeutic choice depend on the individual risk of progression. The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) clinical guidelines in 2012 considered that the risk factors for progression of IgAN were similar in both children and adults and suggested in some conditions to follow the adult schedules. In 2017 a KDIGO Controversies Conference on management and treatment of glomerular diseases decided not to include an update in children with IgAN since the level of evidence of treatments in children was too scarce. Children can follow the indications for adults as far as the disease is similar in the various ages. This review is aimed at discussing why the KDIGO guidelines are poorly suitable to treat children with IgAN, and there is a need to develop new prediction models for progression of IgAN in children to guide selection of the cases to be treated. The identification of different risk levels in children with IgAN may personalize the choice of available drugs and support the use of new targeted therapies.